Small-town sports venue: Mini-Met Baseball Park in Jordan

Built nearly 80 years ago, the Mini-Met is a throwback ballpark that is home to the amateur, high school and Legion baseball teams in Jordan, about 35 miles southwest of Minneapolis. The manual scoreboard and creek surrounding the Mini-Met add to the charm. The upkeep is performed almost entirely by volunteers who take pride in preserving their gem of a stadium, said John Breunig, who works for the city of Jordan. "When the lights are on at night, it's just a little retreat from the rest of the world," Breunig said.

"Women of the flats stood guard over their thresholds while police attempted to eject them for failure to pay rent on the grounds on which the dwellings stand. A near-riot was halted when a second court order was served on police, ordering a stay of the ejections."